The Feasibility of Joint Treatment of Acid Mine
Drainage and Domestic Sewage
THOMAS A. HELINSKI, Engineer
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation
Wheeling, West Virginia 26003
RANDALL K. DRAZBA, Engineer
Floyd G. Browne Associates
Marion, Ohio 43302
WILLIAM A. SACK, Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
West Virginia University
Morgantown, West Virginia 26506
INTRODUCTION
In the tri-state region of West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, coal mining is a major
industry. Associated with the mining operation is also a major environmental problem:
Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). It appears certain that Federal and State water quality
standards will require treatment of acid mine water prior to discharge. A treatment method
with multiple benefits would be joint treatment of AMD and municipal sewage.
AMD results from the leaching action of moisture over exposed coal seams containing
sulfur in its various forms. This type of drainage flows from bore holes (discharge openings)
at rates ranging from less than 50 gallons per day to over 2 million gallons per day. Present
treatment methods being used in addition to the aeration-neutralization-sedimentation
with lime or limestone include the use of AMD as a cleaning medium for raw coal (1).
This paper deals with two specific areas. First, a laboratory study was made of the
feasibility of oxidation of the ferrous iron in AMD in an upflow, aerated activated carbon
column. The resulting carbon column effluent, being rich in ferric iron, was then used to
chemically coagulate raw domestic sewage. In the second part of the work, the pipeline
economics of transporting the AMD from the discharge site to the treatment plant was
investigated.
Joint treatment of AMD and municipal sewage could result in benefits such as: 1)
Acidity reduction of AMD; 2) Increase in pH of AMD; 3) Reduction of total iron content of
AMD; 4) Decrease in organic content of sewage; 5) Decrease in phosphorus of sewage; and
6) Decrease in suspended solids in sewage.
Work of a similar nature using waste streams with a high iron content has shown
success in the past. N.R. Sedlander (2) conducted a study using waste pickle liquor addition
to a biological sewage treatment plant. He noted that this addition resulted in an increased
suspended solids settling rate without any detrimental effect to the biological system. Research at Pennsylvania State University (3) showed that combining AMD and secondary
sewage effluent effectively utilized and reduced the iron concentration in the AMD while
providing an increase in the  effluent quality.
EQUIPMENT AND OPERATION
The AMD used in these studies was oxidized by passing through an upflow expanded
bed, activated carbon column. The column was made of plastic and was constructed in three
sections: a distribution chamber, an active zone, and an exit chamber. All sections were 1.5
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